“What was that?” said Tom Speers, suddenly looking to the northward. “Well, what was it? I didn’t hear any thing,” replied O’Hara, gazing in the direction indicated. “I don’t know what it was; but it sounded like a gun, or the stroke of a bell,” added Speers. “Gun on the starboard quarter, the lookout forward reports,” said Raymond, hailing the captain from the main deck. “All right: we heard it here,” replied O’Hara. “Is it a gun, or a bell? Report if you hear it again, Mr. Raymond.” “If it was a bell, it may be the other vessels of the fleet. If it was a gun, it was not fired by the Josephine or the Tritonia, for the reason that neither of them has a gun to fire.” “I hear it again; and I am sure it is a bell,” exclaimed Tom Speers. “Whisht! Wait till you hear another; for the two schooners are together, and when one rings the other will, you may be sure,” added the captain, not a little excited. But no other stroke of a bell was heard for a little time. “I know the sound of the Tritonia’s bell; and it isn’t she,” said O’Hara. “It is a much heavier bell we hear.” All hands listened again. CHAPTER XIV. THE WRECK OF THE CASTLE WILLIAM. The sound of the bell was heard again in a few minutes. It had a heavy and dull tone, unlike that of the bells of the schooners. All hands on the Ville d’Angers listened attentively to the sound. “I think it must be the bell of one of the consorts,” said Capt. O’Hara, when he had heard the bell at least a dozen times. “It don’t sound like the bell of the Tritonia,” replied Tom Speers, after he had heard it once more. “And all the sounds are from the same bell. If the two schooners were off in that direction, we should hear the bells of both of them.” “I’ll tell you what it is: the fog makes the difference in the sound from what we are accustomed to hear. We never heard the bell except when we were on the deck where it was rung. It stands to reason that it would be another thing when heard at a distance, and in a thick fog,” continued the captain, who wished the sound might come from the consorts, and was influenced by his desire. The sound seemed to be a long way off; and the captain said it bothered him to know how they happened to hear it when it was so far off. He called Mr. Shakings and Capt. Fairfield, and asked them to give their opinion in regard to the tones of the bell. They did not think it was the bell of the Josephine, to which they were more accustomed to listen on board; but it might be, for bells sounded different under varying circumstances. At last O’Hara decided to run for the sound of the bell, and directed the officer of the deck to change the course to north, for this was the direction from which the sound came.